California stands a very good chance of going Republican for the first time since Reagan. LINK
Posted on 12/28/2015 8:46:37 PM PST by Vision Thing
Donald Trump's presidential campaign, which has faced doubts about its ability to translate enthusiasm into votes, in the past few weeks quietly signed an agreement allowing it to use the Republican National Committee's massive voter file, POLITICO has learned.
The list-sharing agreement, which reveals a new level of cooperation between the GOP and its surprise front-runner, could be highly beneficial to both sides.
For the Trump campaign, it means access to a database containing a trove of information on more than 200 million Americans, which can be used to power a get-out-the-vote effort. And for the RNC, it means that any information Trump collects from his supporters, many of whom are not traditional Republicans, will be fed back into the database for future use by the party and its candidates.
The agreement, which was confirmed by multiple sources, is similar to one signed by the campaigns of most of the candidates for the GOP nomination.
But it is more notable for Trump, both because the billionaire real estate showman continues to spar with the party and because critics have increasingly questioned whether his campaign has assembled the infrastructure considered necessary to capitalize on his strong poll numbers in key early states.
Part of the skepticism stems from Trump's apparent reluctance to spend as much as his competitors on television advertising, voter outreach, polling, research and other traditional campaign expenses.
The list-sharing agreement doesn't require Trump's campaign to pay for access to the voter data, but it does suggest that Trump's campaign has invested at least some cash in a data operation. That's because the RNC requires campaigns to demonstrate a certain level of technical aptitude before such deals are executed. The RNC also requires candidates seeking to enter list-sharing agreements to vow to support the party's eventual nominee.
The RNC initially offered its file to Trump not long after he declared his candidacy in June, and it's unclear what caused the delay in executing the agreement. For the past few months, though, Trump and party leaders have been engaged in an uneasy dance in which the rookie candidate repeatedly hinted he might launch a third-party campaign, even after signing an RNC loyalty pledge separate from the list-sharing agreement. While he recently seemed to rule out the prospect of an independent run, he has continued antagonizing party leaders fearful that his inflammatory rhetoric could undermine their 2016 prospects.
Neither the RNC nor the Trump campaign would comment on the list-sharing agreement. But Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski pointed out that the campaign in the coming weeks will be required to detail its finances for the last three months of the year to the Federal Election Commission "and all will be disclosed at that time."
But a file-sharing agreement would not necessarily have to be disclosed on an FEC report, since it doesn't require any money to change hands.
While Trump's campaign has boasted of the reams of contact information it's harvested from supporters who attend rallies and visit his campaign website, that's not the same as a major voter file like the RNC's, which contains years of information on voting histories, supplemented by various forms of consumer data. That level of data is considered critical for identifying and mobilizing persuadable voters.
And sources tell POLITICO that Trump's campaign has reached out to multiple voter data vendors, including a firm called Cambridge Analytica, which is owned by a major donor to Trump rival Ted Cruz, and another called i360, which is owned by the Koch brothers' network. The sources said the Trump campaign didn't pursue a deal with Cambridge Analytica, which offers pricey services, while the Koch operation spurned Trump.
Trump has boasted of his willingness to spend "whatever it takes" from his own fortune to win the White House. But so far, Trump has relied mostly on waves of free publicity, and there’s little evidence his campaign has spent anywhere near as much as those of his rivals.
Through the end of September, the period covered by his most recent FEC report, Trump's campaign had brought in $5.8 million, mostly from donors, rather than from the candidate’s own pocket. It had spent $5.5 million, and some of its biggest expenses were for T-shirts and hats, rather than TV ads and mailers.
Since then, the campaign has spent a relatively paltry $200,000 on radio ads. A Fox News report on Monday indicated that Trump intends to launch a $2-million-a-week television campaign, though some people close to him privately doubt his willingness to spend significant amounts of his own cash on his campaign.
"If the RNC is offering the file for free, then I am sure that the campaign is using it," said one source close to Trump, who did not want to be identified questioning Trump’s public proclamations. "List or no list, data or no data, analytics or no analytics, without paid advertising in the final stretch, the campaign will not be able to deliver all the supporters Mr. Trump has persuaded."
Hope it’s not a corrupted file...believe me I’ve dealt with GOP files and found them wanting...bad #...bad names...etc
“It’s a cook book!”
And I’m guessing no one at the RNC was neither willing nor able to help you with those problems. They don’t seem to be all that responsive an organization.
Got a campaign letter in the mail today from Trump, and wondered where he got my address since the GOPe has certainly made it known they are not supporting Trump. I’ve gotten lots of mail from Cruz, but I have donated to him several times.
People here have mentioned they receive mailings from candidates they haven’t even contacted, so this database sharing deal with the RNC is the best explanation for how people end up on a GOP candidate’s mailing list.
“Got a campaign letter in the mail today from Trump”
The voter registration DBs for many of the states are directly available to pretty much anyone willing to pay the media fee.
“Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, which has faced doubts about its ability to translate enthusiasm into votes”
If they actually believe the above, they ARE STILL CLUELESS as to the level of PURE ANGER us Trump supporters have. I would be surprised if our turnout is under 98%.
We intend to SEND A MESSAGE, and we sure as hell will do just that.
A Trump representative has gone to local voter clerks office and procured a list of registered republican voters. Then he or she has mailed the brochure using the list. Now everything is automated. In old times volunteers would have to write your name and address on the material to be mailed
Trump is a Rhino/Demo in drag.
LOL
LOLOLOLOLOL!
“How To Serve RINO”!
Is this a big deal? Didnt I just read a while ago that voter rolls are free on line ?
Or was that just - ? Kalifornia or ?
Too late to send them all Christmas Cards.
The People on the list will probably end up with Valentines Cards or Easter Cards coming from Trump.
Bttt!
I was in the data base business and in '04 volunteered to make calls for GWB. The data base was so bad I wrote a script to clean up the part that I was using {I'm a sales guy, not a techy, so you know it was bad}.
I told the people that were running the operation how they could improve it, but since they were paid consultants {in their 30s} they knew it all.
I quit the volunteering.
Probably the files that are available online...
191 Million Voter Records Discovered Just Chilling Online
http://gizmodo.com/191-million-voter-records-discovered-just-chilling-onli-1749960840
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.